


Frameshift

by PromptlyGoing



Category: Monster of the Week (Tabletop RPG), Seven Miles (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Blood Magic, Other, gun Gin, origin swap au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 23:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19451557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PromptlyGoing/pseuds/PromptlyGoing
Summary: I trust you.  I’ll wait for you.  Please don’t leave me behind.Foolish, for them to think that life would afford them the mercy of time.  But Avery knows how to act fast.  For Valentine, Avery is willing to cut their losses.  For Valentine, Avery is ready to risk it all.An origin swap au where Gin is a young assassin, Avery is heir to millionaires, and Valentine is the cult apprentice they're breaking out of the compound.





	Frameshift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MQ1693](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MQ1693/gifts), [konoyo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/konoyo/gifts), [Kalanchoe00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalanchoe00/gifts).



> Special thanks to Taya for the art that inspired this fic and Morgan and Vi for encouraging me so that my writing ever sees the light of day. Long live our endless tabletop au's.

Avery checks the time again, impatient. There was a certain charm to these kitschy American vacation cities but the noise and loud, pushy crowds makes them long for Medditerranean beach houses and the winding coasts of Monaco. Where is Gin? Sweat gathers on their brow and Avery wipes it away irritably, wondering why they are even here. 

No, that isn’t true. Avery knows exactly why they are here, and knows they would be willing to suffer a lot more for it. They stare out at the water. Avery thought that they’d had more time - to further the interests of the Moran family, to learn Rosa’s secrets. To explore the strange, fragile thing that had begun to blossom in the midst of all cult’s sinister rituals. 

Absently Avery rubs their palm. They could almost feel the lingering warmth from last night, the quiet words that had been whispered against their skin. _I trust you. I’ll wait for you. Please don’t leave me behind_. 

Foolish, for them to think that life would afford them the mercy of time. But Avery knows how to act fast. For Valentine, Avery is willing to cut their losses. For Valentine, Avery is ready to risk it all. 

_______________________________

“Avery, come to bed.” Delicate, uncalloused hands comb back their hair, a playful kiss brushing across their lips before Valentine steps back. Their eyes are bright, a flush already starting to dust their cheeks. Their mouth is so, so soft. 

Avery has never felt colder in their life. 

“Valentine, we need to leave.” Visions of terror, a great beast rising out of the sea ready to devour and lay waste to everything. Ceremonies in the chapel that made Avery’s hair stand on end. They would finish the business their parents had sent them here for but Avery has never been good at giving up what they want. And there’s nothing they’ve wanted more in their life than Valentine. 

They grab the half dressed youth and give them a little shake, fear making them rougher than they mean to be. “ _You_ need to leave. You saw what Rosa was planning! What she wants you to do!” The thought of Valentine coming to harm makes Avery want to destroy things. They will burn this entire compound to the ground before they let Rosa touch another hair on Val’s head. 

Valentine must sense their anger because their smile falls away. Avery finds sudden distance between them as Val begins to back up, fumbling across the bedroom floor. Away from them. “I don’t-” There’s a lost look on their face. “What do you mean, leave?” they demand. Confusion is being replaced by anger and Val draws their robe around themselves, closing off. 

No, this isn’t what Avery wanted. “Val, corazón, please-” Valentine jerks away when Avery tries to cup their cheek, their mouth a stubborn line. Avery loses their patience. “I am _afraid_ for you,” they snap. The admission costs them. Avery does not like to show their fear and it makes their tongue sharp. “What do you think is going to happen after Rosa gets what she wants, hmm? Do you think you’ll be her pampered, spoiled little pet for the rest of your life? That she’ll keep you around after she gets what she wants from you?” They’re almost shouting, the thin walls of the main house the only thing keeping them in check. Inspiration strikes them. “Do you think she’s going to keep _Isco_ around when he’s outlived his usefulness to her?” 

It’s like flipping a switch. Valentine’s face crumples and Avery hates themselves for being the one to do it. “She wouldn’t,” they say, but Avery can hear the doubt in their voice. The sudden frisson of fear. “Isco’s too smart. He’s too talented. He’s the better apprentice between the two of us, and-” 

“And he’s the biggest threat,” Avery says softly. “Open your eyes, Valentine.” They can’t bear to see them cry. When Avery reaches out this time Val lets them. Tears stain their hands. “She only sees you as something to use. And when a tool outlives its usefulness you throw it away. You and Isco need to leave while you’re ahead, now.” 

Valentine is silent as they stare down at the floorboards. For a moment Avery is afraid their stubborn pride won’t let them admit the truth to themselves. Then Val takes a shuddering breath. “Isco won’t leave. He’s loyal,” they say softly. “He’ll never go of his own free will while there’s still work to be done.” 

“Then we kidnap him,” Avery says bluntly. They backtrack at the alarm on Valentine’s face. “Very gently,” they promise. “He won’t even have time to be scared.” 

“You can’t just- Rosa has magic,” Val says, affronted. “Isco has magic. It’s not going to be that easy.” 

“Yeah, well, I have money,” Avery drawls. “Lots and lots of money and people who owe me a few favors. It’s great, how many problems can be solved with a gun and a fistful of pesos.” 

_______________________________

“You’re getting lax.” 

Avery doesn’t jump when they hear the voice behind them. “You’re getting sneaky,” they reply, and turn. They grin. “Look how my little bodyguard has grown. I don’t think Camila can pick you up anymore.” 

Gin takes the teasing in stride, used to it by now. It’s a rare day when Avery can bully Gin enough to get a rise out of them. “You came to Florida without me.” It’s phrased like a statement rather than an accusation, but Avery narrows their eyes at them anyway. 

“I had business to attend to. Can’t be giving you free vacations all the time.” 

“There’s business and then there’s _business_.” Gin looks Avery up and down. Doing a body check. Avery’s glad all of Rosa’s parting gifts are in places that are easily hidden under their clothes. 

Gin’s quiet for a moment, weighing their words. “I’ve been in town for about a week.” Avery snorts. So Gin had tailed them to Miami before Avery had ever made the call. They’d wondered at the quick turn around time - so much for giving their over-vigilant child bodyguard the slip. Gin narrows their eyes at their reaction but lets it pass without comment. They continue. “People are talking about disappearances around Homestead. No one’s calling it a serial murderer. Yet.” They look at Avery. “Bossman, why did you call me here?” 

Avery grins. “A business associate has something I want. I want you to secure them while I’m wrapping up loose ends.” 

Gin waits for further explanation. Avery doesn’t give it to them. They don’t roll their eyes, which is disappointing. It’s been so long since Avery’s been able to pull on Gin’s pigtails. “Them?” Gin finally asks. 

“Yeah, them. Two siblings, actually, but Valentine’s the priority.” Avery drops the teasing and gets down to business. They hand over their phone with a picture of Val on the screen. Avery keeps talking as Gin studies it, commiting Val’s face to memory. “I’ve been in talks with a summoning talent named Rosa for the past few months, making some payments in exchange for artifacts Maria is interested in. Turns out Rosa’s got a lot more going on than she lets on.” Avery nods at the picture. “It’s blood magic, Gin. Blood magic channeled through a sacrificial vessel. They’re one of Rosa’s favorites.” 

“You like them.” Gin takes one last look at the photo before handing the phone back to Avery. “They’re pretty.” 

“Yeah, a real flower child,” Avery scoffs. Their fondness manages to bleed through despite themselves though. “I’m not leaving without them, and they’re not leaving without their brother.” 

Gin makes a disapproving noise. Avery knows the logistics are messier than they’d prefer. “Those are a lot of people to coordinate.” 

“It’s only two, Gin, two sheltered cult apprentices at that. Come on, you spent the better part of a year guarding three Morans. This will be a walk in the park in comparison.” 

“Camila knows how to listen and keep her head down in a firefight,” Gin interjects. They fail to mention all the times Avery’s sister had ignored Gin’s protests and doted on the young assassin shamelessly. “You and your brother, on the other hand-” 

“Sol and I know how to take care of ourselves.” 

“That’s my job. That’s literally why your family has me.” It’s an old argument, well worn. “I’m just saying, you guys know what’s expected of you even when you choose to ignore it. I doubt either of those two cultists have ever seen a fight before. They won’t know to listen to me. They’re going to get themselves killed.” 

“That’s why I’m asking the best of the best,” Avery cajoles. They sling an arm around Gin’s shoulders and this time it does elicit an eye roll from them. Avery grins. A small victory. “If anyone can get them out in one piece it’s you.” 

“You’re not as good at good at flattery as you think you are,” Gin grumbles, but Avery can already tell they’re gonna do it. They don’t lean into the touch but they don’t move away from it either. Leaps and bounds from when they’d first met each other, when Gin would shy away from even the most casual physical contact. 

“Sol and I aren’t that bad, are we? I think we’ve taken care of some ugly situations together.” 

“Sol is terrible,” Gin says immediately. “He’s going to get himself killed and I’m going to stress myself into an early grave until it happens.” 

Avery ruffles their short hair. “And me?” they tease. 

Gin furrows their brow. On anyone else it would almost look like a pout. “You’re...okay,” they mumble begrudgingly. Avery smiles. 

They didn’t have many friends - couldn’t, with their position. What did it say that their young bodyguard was one of the closest people they had? 

“Stop scowling before you look as old as I do,” they say. “C’mon, I’ll draw you a map of the compound. You’ll pick over my plan like the killjoy you are, and then tonight, we’ll strike.” 

_______________________________

Gin sees it about to happen right before all hell breaks loose. 

“Ma’am! Get down!” 

Valentine looks around in confusion just as the lights find them. Voices rise from the main path. 

“They’re over there!” Gin swears and drops Isco’s deadweight, dashing forward to grab Valentine and pull them behind a tree. It’s too late to avoid detection. Leaves and branches crunch as the cultists leave the path and make their way towards their position. 

“Simple job, bossman says,” Gin mutters, clicking off the safety of their service pistol. One, two, three pursuers. If Gin’s careful with their bullets they should be fine. “In and out, bossman says. You have the easy part, bossman says.” 

They’re still holding Avery’s...companion. Gin lets Valentine go and pushes them towards their unconscious brother. “Get him out of the way,” they bark, and make their first shot. There’s a sharp, punched out cry as one of the cultists go down. 

“May!” one of the men shout. Gin’s aiming in the direction of his voice when a hand grabs their gun. 

“What are you doing?” Valentine hisses. Their eyes are wide. They’re furious. The hand grabbing Gin’s gun gives it a little shake. “You could have killed her!” 

Irritation rises up in a flash. Gin yanks the pistol out of Val’s grip. “I said, get your brother, and get out of here,” they enunciate carefully, tamping down their anger. This is why they’d told Avery working with civilians was a bad idea. “Do not touch my weapon.” 

“You don’t- I know these people,” Val snaps. “You don’t need to kill them, I’ll take care of it.” And before Gin can stop them they’re hurrying through the trees, back towards the enemy. 

“Valentine!” they shout, but it’s too late. Was that a glint of metal through the trees? Gin’s throat goes dry and they’re throwing themselves forward before they can even think about it, operating purely on instinct and muscle memory. Time seems to slow down. 

If Gin lets Valentine get killed then Avery would never forgive them for it. 

The two of them hit the ground with a heavy thud as several things happen at once. 

A gunshot goes off. Once, twice. The smell of blood fills Gin’s nose. Something bright goes skittering through the leaves, sailing through the darkness like a silver star. 

And water seeps up from the ground underneath them, called from somewhere Gin can’t see. 

Valentine is the first one to move. “Get off of me,” they huff, and sit upright as soon as Gin’s weight is no longer pinning them down. The skirt of their dress is soaked and clinging to their legs. “What were you doing?” 

“What was I doing? What were _you_ doing?” Gin cries. It takes a lot to ruffle them but Valentine somehow manages to get under their skin. “You could have gotten yourself killed!” 

“I’m fine. See? I took care of it.” They stand up and walk towards the remaining two cultists. And that’s when Gin realizes something very strange is happening. 

Water is pouring from Val’s arm, a steady trickle that drips down their fingers and falls to the soil. Where the water falls more water rises up to meet it, until a steady spring of water follows them like something out of a fairy tale. 

The cultists are frozen. Gin warily steps closer and can tell that they’re definitely still awake and aware. The man who had shouted glares balefully at them when Gin draws nears, the desire to reach out and strangle them obvious in the twitch of his hands and sneer on his face. 

But none of them can move a finger. Gin watches with a kind of detached shock as Val reaches out towards the woman on the ground and heals her, drawing out Gin’s bullet with a thin swirl of blood and water and compelling the wound to close itself. 

_La fuente de la eterna juventud_. A hysterical laugh lodges somewhere in their throat. It’s like Valentine can summon the fountain of youth itself. 

“How could you, Valentine?” It’s the woman, the other man had called her May. “How could you when we trusted you so much? When Rosa trusted you so-” 

She pales when Gin draws their gun again. “That’s enough of that,” Gin says calmly. “Ma’am, can you hold them long enough for us to get away?” Valentine frowns. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried.” 

Gin can work with that. “I have rope. Hold them until I’m done working.” They’d been planning on using it to scale barriers but the compound offered less security than they’d worried there would be. Waste not want not. With Valentine’s help it’s the work of minutes to get all the cultists tied to separate trees. If Gin wanted to do a good job it would take longer, but they’re not particularly worried about cutting off blood circulation for these people. Let Valentine have their mercy. Gin’s job is to get them out of here, safe, as fast as possible. 

It’s only after Gin’s tied up the last cultist and Val’s finally released their magic that they notice anything is wrong. “You’re bleeding,” Valentine remarks. 

Gin’s already hiking back up towards Isco. “Oh.” The pause. There’s a tear in the shoulder of their jacket and Valentine’s right, Gin’s bleeding from it. One of those gunshots must have skimmed them. The pain hits them a moment later. “Thank you for telling me,” they grit out. 

Val makes a vaguely concerned noise. “Are you alright? Here, let me go get my knife, I dropped it somewhere. I can heal you up no problem.” 

That’s when more voices come from down the trail. Gin pauses before grabbing Valentine and hurrying forward. “There’s no time.” That delay had cost them. “We need to get out of here now.” 

“But my knife-” 

Gin grabs Isco and grunts as they swing him over their shoulder. “It’s your knife or your life,” they snap. Avery’s words come back to them - “ _they won’t leave without their brother_ ” - and Gin hauls Valentine forward. They’re not in a position to stand here and argue. “ _His_ life. Do you want your brother to go back to them after we’ve made it this far?” 

It’s the right thing to say. Valentine gives one more searching look behind them before following Gin. “Okay, fine,” they acquiesce. “Let’s go.” 

There are fires burning in the distance as their group hurries to the rendezvous point. Despite themselves Gin finds themselves smiling. Trust Avery to never do things by halves. The oldest Moran is waiting for them with the car when they finally get to the road. 

“Everything go okay?” Avery asks. Gin dumps Isco’s snoring form into the backseat and helps Valentine up after him. 

“Everything’s fine,” they respond. They didn’t even empty their clip. Valentine scoots forward and drapes their arms around Avery’s shoulders, nuzzling their cheek. 

“Your little friend is bleeding,” they say helpfully. Avery shoots Gin a look. _Fine?_ They mouth. Gin shrugs. 

“We’re all still alive,” they offer. It’s a weak defense. Avery’s gonna give them a hard time about it later while they’re doing Gin’s stitches in a hotel room somewhere. 

But it’s true, Gin thinks as the car speeds off into the night. They’re all still alive, and they got away. Valentine is hovering over their brother while Avery plugs in the aux cord, probably to pull up one of those atrocious pop music playlists they like to work out to. 

The first few strains of a Selena song begin playing instead. Gin shoots Avery a look only to see them smiling at them, giving them a little thumbs up from the driver’s seat. It’s a thank you. Or an apology. Either way, Gin’s grateful for the small gesture. It takes a lot to read them but after all these years Avery knows them pretty well. 

Gin cradles their shoulder and looks out the window as the dark roads of south Florida fly by. It was a fairly simple job they suppose, despite the complications. The hard part will be what comes after. 


End file.
